Automatic coupling for railway and other vehicles



F. W ATKINSON. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FLLED MAR. 13. 1920.

' Patented Jan. 18,1921.

3 SHEETS-SHEET 1.

7 Z] VII-W21 fol Fre derZcKW/TIKMJOI sl'lll l lllll F. W. ATKINSON.

AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER VEHICLES.

APPLICATION FILED MAR. I3. I920.

1,366,237. Patented Jan. 18, 1921.

3 SHEETSSHEET 2.

F. w. ATKINSON. AUTOMATIC COUPLING FOR RAILWAY AND OTHER VEHICLES.

Patented Jan. 18, 1921 3 SHEETS-SHEET 3- APPLICATION FILED MML13. 1920.

. UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

rnnnnnrcx WILLIAM: ATKINSON, or LEEDS, ENGLAND.

3 AUTOMATIC courLnve non RAIL AY AND OTHER VEHICLES.

To all commit may concern." 1

Be it known that I, FREDERIOKWILLIAM .ATKINSON, asubject of the King ofGreat Britain and Ireland, residing at Leeds, in the county of York, England, have nvented new and useful Improvements in Automatlc Couplings for Railway and other Vehicles,

of which the following is a specification.

This invention relates to automatic couplings for railway and llke vehlcles, the

object being to v provide a coupling device which shall be entirely automatic in engagement, securely wedged and interlocked after engagement and during transit, adapted to be readily released by an operator on either side of the train without the operator having to pass between the vehicles, and adapted to be readily locked in the disengaged position so asto be inoperative at will, as for example during shunting operations, the coupling device at the same time being cheap and simple in construction, and applicable either to new or old rolling stock.

My invention relates more articularly to automatic couplings of the KIIOWII type in which a side hook on the outer end of the draw-bar of one vehicle engages with a complementary side hook on the draw-bar oil? the adjacent vehicle under the influence of longitudinal and lateral springs operating in conjunction with a knuckle joint toward the inner end of each draw-bar and with. a. laterally slotted front bearing for each draw-bar, and in which said hooked draw-bars are disengaged, temporarily held in such disengaged positions, and reset in their engaging positions, by intermediate mechanism actuated from a wheel, crank, lever, or rod at one side or other of the vehicle.

For the attainment of my object as aforesaid my invention consists in the improved "traction and combination of safety reg locking and resetting gear as herein-- alter more fully described and claimed, and in the particular construction and combination of parts constituting the improvedautomatic coupling as. described with referonce to the drawings. a

Description of accomywmg im/ drawing s.

pling in interlocking engagement.

Specification of Letters l latent. Patented: 3,11, 18 1921,

Application filed March 13, 1920. Serial No. 365,568.

Fig. 3 is a planof same showing thecoupllng locked 111 its dlsengaged and inoperative position.

According to my said invention the underirame A oi each wagon or vehicle 1s fitted centrallyat eachend with a spring int'erlockin g engagement between the respec tive hooks C of adjacent draw-bars. Each hook C is tapered and is machinedboth on its inner and. outer surfaces so as to iniingly shaped recess E permittingof mutual sure a perfect lit and an effective wedge ac tionbetween the engaging pair of hooks.

The draw-bars B have the usual longitudi'r nal spring movement, this in the example shown bemg controlled by the butter springs F, and their front bearings are provided respectively with lateral slots G and side springs H so as to allow each draw-bar the slight lateral play necessary for interlock ing engagement with its complementary draw-bar on the adjacent wagon or vehicle, and for the disengaging movement into the inoperative position.

Each drawbar ll carries, on its upper and lower laces respectively, a pair of pivoted cam fingers 1 adapted to traverse over the recess E and to engage normally and respectively with a pair of projecting noses J on the side hook oi. the complementary draw-bar. These cam fingers I are con trolled from a crank handle or wheel K on one side of the wagon. or vehicle, by means of a transverse worm shaftli, worm M, worm segment wheel N, and link or links 0, the worm segment wheel N being mounted on an i'zprip 'ht spindle l and its rotal v movement in either di'l'cction being lii'uited by the extent of 1 toother. segment.

The operation oi tln ap iaratus is as .licl low -031 the two wage I; or vehicles cominginto mntact, the hooks (l of their respective draw-bars ll automatii lily engage and the coupling is instantly and automatica-lly interlocked and wedged (see Fig. 2).

'lo-release the coupling, the crank handle or wheel K on one side or the other is turned to draw laterally the link or links 0 cl: its respective drruv-lmr, this movement pushing back the corresponding pair of cam fingers .T. against the projecting noses el oi? the sec oud or complemei'itary draw bar hook, or

' the crank handle or wheel K, the cam fingers the projecting noses J 'fingers are withdrawn by a return movement of the crank handle or wheel. By a continuation oi": the releasing movement of I are pushed farther back into contact with v on the firstdraw-bar hook, sothat the continued releasing movementpulls the drawbai' laterally back out of the path of its complementary draw-bar,

thereby locking, the coupling for the time being in its disengaged and inoperative pos tion (see Fig. 3), until reset by a return movement of the crank handle or wheel K.

Each draw-bar B is also fitted at Q, with an emergency coupling chain for coupling unto the draw-bars of rolling stock of ordinary type.

I cla m: -.1. All'tilltOiIliltlC interlocking coupling device of the type described, having: a safety releasing locking ancrresetting gear at each end of each vehicle comprising, in combination, drawbars each provided with a wedge hook on the outer end, a crank handle or wheel on one side of the vehicle, a transverse worm shaft carrying said crank handle or wheel, a worm on said shaft, an upright spindle, a worm segment wheel thereon, links connected to a pair of projecting" noses on theinclined side or". a wedge hook (it the draw-bar, and a pair of rain fingers controlled by said links and pivoted on the upper and lower faces respectively of the drawbar so as to engage with projecting noses of a wedge hook on an adjacent vehicle, substantially as herein set forth.

2. r coupling: device of the class described comprising a drawbar having a wedge hook on the outer end and a knuckle joint toward the inner end of the drawbar, a projecting nose on the hook, a cam pivotally mounted on the drawbar, a wheel pivotally mounted on the vehicle, a link connecting the wheel to one of the free ends of the cam, the other free end of the cam being adapted to engage the projecting nose on a hook mounted on a companion coupling and means for rotating the wheel.

" FREDERICK WILLIAM ATKINSON. 

